Influx of foreign students sign of robust edu system – Ablakwa

Deputy Minister in charge of tertiary education, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa has said claims of falling educational standards in Ghana are unfounded given the fact that many foreign nationals prefer getting their tertiary education in the country.

“In Africa, Ghana is now the preferred destination for higher education. Ghana and South Africa,” he told a gathering at the Government for the People (G4P) Forum at the Accra International Conference Centre on Thursday December 18, 2014.

Ablakwa said the educational system being run in the country is evidently one of the best in all of Africa if not the best.

“The education sector is very strong, we are doing very well. As I speak to you today, there are 10,399 international students who have travelled from North Korea, Parkistan, South Korea, America, England, Argentina, name them…from 60 different countries who are learning in our tertiary educational institutions,” he remarked.

“Visit most of our tertiary institutions, especially the private universities and see how many Nigerian students you have there….it is for a reason, their fees are high, it’s true, but there is something going for our education”.

He, however, agrees there is more to be done to improve on current standards.

“Often, people want to talk down our education. We accept that we have challenges: yes there are challenges sometimes with our school environment, and some of our facilities are bad. But look at the work we are doing…Our system is good, our educational system is robust….” he insisted.